<p>I hate to break it to you, but even the "idiots" are normally well adept at getting good grades. You can be a complete tool and still succeed in school, and I think that's what most people are talkinga about when they talk about idiots. After all, they didn't just become idiots, so they were idiots in highschool with 4.25 gpas.</p>
<p>Oh that idiot? I meant intellectually idiotic.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Sakky, this is what drives me crazy about you. First, you can never just give a complement. C'mon, "fairly decent?" Is that all Berkeley is to you? And if Cal is only fairly decent, what does that say about the thousands of school that Cal is considered better than? Sure, maybe Cal is only fairly decent when put next to Harvard, but in the grand sceme of things it is surey bettery than fairly decent. After all, this fairly decent school got you to MIT for grad school. Do you think you would've got their from Cal State Northridge?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well, first of all, without saying anything about my biography, I would say that I found quite a few people at both MIT and Harvard who came from no-name schools. Places like New Mexico State, Florida Institute of Technology, Kettering (a LOT of Kettering), Illinois Institute of Technology, Utah State University, Idaho State University. I had never even heard of some of these places before. </p>
<p>Secondly, I think you should be able to tell by context what I mean. You can't just quote me out of context. When I say fairly decent, I mean fairly decent within the context of the top schools. Berkeley is clearly better than most of the public schools in the country.</p>
<p>In no particular order:</p>
<p>1) Academics
* I'm an intended PEIS major taking some CS classes, so I can't really say much about the natural sciences, but all of the professors I've had have been excellent.
2) Athletics
* An on-campus football stadium that will be undergoing renovations soon. Tedford is turning us into a national power, and next season looks VERY promising. Stanfurd will not be taking the Axe back anytime soon. TICKETS ARE FREE FOR FRESHMEN! Basketball was pretty good last season with 2nd team AA Leon Powe, but Ben Braun is NO Ben Howland.
3) FOOD (Asian Ghetto, Cheese n Stuff, Oakland Chinatown)
* Lunch is often my favorite part of the day.
4) Transportation
* Bart can get you anywhere in East Bay and to SF. AC Transit lets you roam the East Bay for the small fee you pay (DON'T expect the buses to be on time though).
5) Mild Climate
* The rain isn't nearly as bad as its made out to be. Otherwise it's pretty sunny and I like the cool temperature.
6) Natural Setting
* Forested park to the east, campus overlooks Golden Gate Bridge.
7) Cultural attractions
* Greek Theater, Zellerbach, SF, Oakland
8) Campus Groups
* Cal Band, Rally Comm, SMA, etc.</p>
<p>"Berkeley is clearly better than most of the public schools in the country."</p>
<p>No, by most reasonable accounts Berkeley is clearly better than most schools period, public or private. Even if Berkeley was the 20-30th best school in the country, that would mean that its better than 90% of the schools, public or private, in the US.</p>
<p>^^^^^^^^^ NOT ME ^^^^^^^^</p>
<p>Just so you know Gentleman :P</p>
<p>Wow,pee_sea, If you think berkeley sucks that's your opinion. Don't come here. I'm stating facts. If you have a problem with them you should write someone a letter and let them know how you feel. And Politeantagonis, its nice to see you've finally developed a sense of humor, even if its come at my expence;)</p>
<p>gentleman, all i've seen you do really is reply to Polite Antagonis with flames :P</p>
<p>And...........?</p>
<p>that sucks.</p>
<p>If you don't like my posts feel very free to ignore them.</p>
<p>
[quote]
No, by most reasonable accounts Berkeley is clearly better than most schools period, public or private. Even if Berkeley was the 20-30th best school in the country, that would mean that its better than 90% of the schools, public or private, in the US.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>And is that good enough for you? It certainly isn't good enough for most Berkeley students that I know.</p>
<p>Of course I'd like to see Berkeley fix its problems, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't recognize that its a great school as is. It seems like berkeley is held to a higher standard on these boards, and I'm sick of hearing that its just an ok school.</p>
<p>I actually think it's the rabid supporters of Berkeley that are REALLY holding Berkeley to a higher standard. For example, they attempt to assert that Berkeley is really a top 5 or top 10 school for undergrad. For grad, sure, but for undergrad? That's pushing it. </p>
<p>Bottom line. If supporters of Berkeley think that Berkeley truly is fully competitive with HYPSM for undergrad, then Berkeley should be compared to that standard. What's fair is fair. Just like if somebody claims to be the best basketball player in the world, then it's fair to compare him to Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan.</p>
<p>Ask sakky if he thinks I'm attacking him. Sakky and I have been on these boards for a long time and I greatly respect his opinion on berkeley and on college in general. That doesn't mean that I can't disagree. On a side note, its really easy to be a tough guy on the internet, so I'm not going to sink to calling you names, but just to ensure your safety over the next 4 years, maybe you should keep the tough guy stuff on the internet and not in the real world.</p>
<p>pea-sea04: G&S flaming sakky? With Cal being my #1 choice I have read most of the threads over the last couple of months and Gentleman and Scholar, along with several other current Cal students have provided valuable information as well as interesting and sometimes entertaining discussion and debates. You sound like the rabid dog.
Sorry to hear Cal is your number 1 choice.</p>
<p>Ok can we get back to the topic. It's starting to go off on a tangent now.</p>
<p>I second that, royrules. Let's hear some positive things about Berk!</p>
<p>For the record, I will say that I don't believe GS is flaming me.</p>
<p>soccer, I believe that many positive things have been said about Berkeley. First off, like I always said, Berkeley is a stellar graduate school. I certainly have no problem in putting in a positive word for Berkeley to anyone considering going there for graduate school. The doctoral programs, in particular, are Elite with a capital 'E'. </p>
<p>As far as the undergraduate program is concerned, I maintain that the undergraduate program is still one of the top ones in the country, and arguably the best public undergrad program. Furthermore, it is a very good deal financially for those people who aren't poor enough to get significant financial aid from a private school, yet who aren't rich enough to not care about cost. Berkeley has excellent weather, lots of things to do either in the city of Berkeley itself or (especially) in SF, a quite decent public transporation system, a lot of good bars, and a strong brand name. I would be the first to admit that you could do a lot worse than go to Berkeley for undergrad.</p>
<p>It's nice to see a positive thread. Also, it's neither rainy nor windy most of the time.</p>